


Season 2: Decisions

by nightmoonz



Category: Dramaworld (TV)
Genre: Action/Adventure, F/M, Fluff and Angst, Happy Ending, Mutual Pining, Post-Canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-15
Updated: 2020-12-15
Packaged: 2021-03-11 05:27:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,709
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28090020
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nightmoonz/pseuds/nightmoonz
Summary: Claire and Joon are back at it saving dramaworld and making the biggest decision of their lives.
Relationships: Joon Park/Claire Duncan, Seung-woo/Seo-yeon
Comments: 4
Kudos: 6
Collections: Yuletide 2020





	Season 2: Decisions

**Author's Note:**

  * For [SummerRed](https://archiveofourown.org/users/SummerRed/gifts).



> Hi Summer_Red!
> 
> I really hope you like this little taste of post canon dramaworld! I loved writing for you and I hope you have a very Happy Holidays and a Happier and Healthy New Year!
> 
> Much Love,  
> *nightmoonz*

“So, are you ready?” Joon gave Claire a concerned glance.

Claire took a deep breath before answering, but she was determined. After all, she had saved dramaworld before. She was at least somewhat confident she could do it again. “Not even remotely, but I wasn’t the last time I came here either.”

Joon gave Claire a small laugh at that. However, he didn’t look happy. If he were honest with himself, he’d admit he wasn’t happy. He was conflicted about what would happen next. This was going to be the last episode of the drama, which meant that they had one shot of getting the leads to kiss and have a happy ending for dramaworld… He wanted to fix the world as soon as possible, so the people he loved could be happy and safe. But this also meant that once the credits rolled, she would have to go back to her world again and, well… there would be no telling if he would get to see her again. It was something he had shoved down since he brought her here. He made himself a promise to not think about it. He was a leading man once, and even though he isn’t one anymore, he still saw Claire as his leading lady. He’d be damned if he did anything to hurt her, even indirectly. So he masked his conflicted feelings with a false but reassuring smile.

He wanted, needed, to have her best interests at heart, and even though his heart was saturated in anguish, at least he could say that this time that it had nothing to do with any of the bizarre the rules of dramaworld—that he was still wrapping his head around—he just loved her. That was it, he loved her, and he wanted to see this through and get her home safely. Problem was… she was a little bit distracting, but that was dramaworld for you.

Of course, she was absolutely breathtaking in this final scene. She wore a shoulderless red dress that went down to the floor. It complimented her figure perfectly with eyes that sparkled like starlight like—He needed to get his head back in the game. He knew that, but he just couldn’t stand it.

~~~

“Hey, Claire?”

“Yeah?” Claire asked without looking at him. She had to focus on her mission—their mission and not on Joon Park. The devastatingly beautiful Joon Park who wore the expression of a kicked puppy, she knew why. How could she not? She was feeling the same way, at least she hoped he was. She didn’t want to go home, but she knew she couldn’t stay. She had to go home—if for no other reason than to look after her dad. She didn’t think he’d be able to take her leaving. It was half the reason she had picked a college close to home.

“What’re you going to do after this?”

“Are you really asking this now?”

“I’ll give you the same answer I did last time. I might not be able to later…”

Claire opened her mouth to speak, but nothing came out. Instead, the elevator doors dinged open, and secretly she was all the more thankful for it. She didn’t know what to say to Joon. She didn’t know what to do. It was different before. She was sure she knew how he felt about her then. But then he kissed her and said something that sounded like “I love you.” Usually, she would have thought she heard wrong, but he kissed her last drama, and now in this one, they just kept getting closer and closer—

No. She couldn’t think about that. It was time to get to work. Dramaworld needed them to solve this action thriller-murder mystery and save Seo-yeon. Thankfully, Joon knew this, so he saved her from herself and interrupted her thoughts while exiting the elevator.

“Never mind, we’ll talk about it later. Right now, we need to protect Seo-yeon and Seung-woo, right.”

“I can’t believe Ga-in would do this…”

“I hate to say this, but I can see why Ga-in wants revenge—really, who can blame her? She isn’t the lead, she didn’t get her happy ending, she didn’t even get to have an ending. She was murdered in a drama where that wasn’t even supposed to happen, and her killer went free… This actually seems like the only logical choice, well, at least from a writing standpoint anyway.”

“I guess that’s true.”

Joon looked at her with an expression she couldn’t quite read or, more accurately, one that she was deliberately avoiding. She knew there wasn’t really a future for them. She didn’t belong here in this world, and Joon really didn’t belong in hers… Even if he did crossover and stay there forever, he didn’t have a birth certificate, social security number, school records, qualifications, anything. It would be as if he were a ghost, and well, Claire couldn’t stay here. She just couldn’t. If Claire did, then what would her father do? Her mother already left him. How could she do the same? And it wasn’t as if he could come here. He didn’t even like watching her dramas. She knew he’d never like living in one. But she could work on that problem later, right now she had to keep Seo-yeon safe or at least make sure she was safe with Seung-woo when they would kiss so the drama could reset and hopefully go back to the purely romantic type of dramas that it had been previously.

“So you cover Seung-woo, and I’ll cover Seo-yeon, we can do this.”

“Claire…”

“Joon?”

“Please j-just be careful, okay?”

She wanted to tell him that it didn’t really matter, that she would just get sent back home to her own world again, but the thought of saying that and knowing that it would make Joon—who knows what it makes him feel she was the one that was in love with him, not the other way around. Still, they were friends… and she didn’t exactly want him to have another existential crisis, so instead, she said, “I will, but… you too okay?”

“Okay… I’ll see you after, and once this gets resolved, then… can we talk?”

Claire felt a lump in her throat, so instead of answering, she just nodded her head, swiftly going to Seo-yeon right after to complete her mission. 

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

It was done in a flash. Ga-in managed to get a shot off, but well, it’s dramaworld, so what ended up happening was Seung-woo pushed Seo-yeon out of harm’s way. Of course, he got hit but was wearing his bullet proof vest, so he was a-okay. Almost immediately, Seung-woo checked on Seo-yeon gingerly, making sure she wasn’t hit or hurt in any way all the while, she stared at him with doting eyes, asking softly if he was okay.

They went off in private together, no doubt to share true love’s kiss. This was it. The drama was over…

“So I guess this is it huh? Back to my world…”

Joon furrowed his brows numbly, mimicking her words “back to your world…”

A small silence fell between them and Joon couldn’t stand it. “But, what if you stayed?”

“What?”

“Claire… what if you stayed this time?”

“Joon… I can’t I have to go back home, my dad needs me. You know what I told you in “Taste of Love” was true. When my mom left, it broke him. I can’t do that to him.”

“What if he came here then? What if you both lived here?”

“I don’t think he could do that… He loves his restaurant, and he worked hard to build it. Either way, I can’t ask him to pick up his whole life for me. It doesn’t matter how much I want to stay Joon, it’s basically an impossibility.”

“Claire no… there’s—there’s got to be a way! I can’t lose you again. I love you.”

“You… you what?”

Oh no, not again. Fucking credits.

“I said I love you… I said it in “Taste of Love” but you couldn’t hear me. I love you, I don’t want to being apart from you. I think we have something real and I want to pursue it.”

“Joon, we can’t… you belong here, and I—“

“I don’t, though—and before you even start—it’s not your fault. I just don’t belong here anymore. I know too much, but you know I was wondering... what if I were to come back with you?”

A pregnant pause fell between them while Claire’s jaw dropped.

“You can’t be serious. We have no idea what that could cause!”

“But I don’t belong here, besides you have to admit it’s a little fortuitous. Your father owns a restaurant, and the world I remember the most vividly was “the Taste of Love.” The drama where I was a chef. I could go back with you, I could help you and your father. I want to.”

“Wh-why? I mean, did I kind of ruin your life?”

“How many times do I have to tell you it’s not your fault, and if anything, I owe you my life, you’re the reason I woke up and the reason I have free will. I want to be a chef. I want to stay with you because I want to. Not because that’s what some plot of a story is guiding me to, not because I need to, simply because I want to, and the reason I want to is because—

The ending theme was starting to get louder, and the credits really started to block their view of each other.They were out of time.

But Claire nodded.

But Claire took his hand.

But Claire took him back to her world.

Even though she was scared and even though for the second time, she hadn’t heard him say, “I love you.”

But that was okay. Everything was going to be okay because he could take his time. After all, he didn’t have to depend on her for survival. Because he could be there for her when she needed him because he knew she’d always be there for him.

Joon Park promised himself, the next time he told her, she’d hear it.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you [Slumber](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Slumber/pseuds/Slumber) for your moral support and company during our writing sprints. Couldn't have done it without you :,3


End file.
